In the areas of, for example, portable or temporary shelters such as pop-up canopy, shelter, cover, and/or awnings, many people have been making, buying, and using quick pop-up type portable canopies that are easy to carry and mobile so that it can be put up, taken down, repackaged and/or stored easily. These portable pop-up canopies typically have metal frames that are retractable and adjustable for height when in use and size reduction for storage, and form a pyramid type shape on top when open. The pyramid top of the portable canopy is typically made of a waterproof material that is also stitched into a pyramid shape to match the metal frame that supports it. There is also known metal frame gazebos that also have the pyramid shaped type top on them. However, one problem with these pop-up canopies and gazebos is that when it rains, water runs down all four sides. So getting under or out from under them during rain causes a person to get wetter than simply standing in the rain. Also, if these shelters are used next to, for example, a building, such as putting them up on a deck or patio next to or attached to a house or garage, the water runs back against the wall or a door wall of the house or garage causing unwanted water flowing in a bad direction toward the building rather than away from the building. There are also known elongated garage style shelters (shaped to park an automobile under) that have an “A” frame style, which also may have problems with rain water going in the wrong direction if one of the lower sides of the “A” frame shape is directed to the side of the building, which often is the case for decks that are wider than they are long to accommodate the elongated garage style shelter. The present invention may include a portable pop-up shelter that is capable of being adjusted so that it has a single plane slanted roof line that may overcome the rain water runoff of the presently known shelters.
Many buildings today skylights have in their roof for using natural sunlight to fully or partially light the inside of a building. These buildings also have electrical light fixtures and systems that provide electrical artificial light using, for example, incandescent lights or other type of light bulbs for use with or without the natural light which are typically switched on by a user or automatically based on the time of day. Unfortunately, the installation of these two different methods and systems for lighting are done separately and take up two different parts of the ceiling space in a building. The present invention may include an integral system or module including a skylight for natural light and an electric operated lighting fixture that may be used in the same part of a building ceiling and may be installed in a single installation.
Many clocks and watches have been known over time, and many of them have alarms to wake a person or warn them of something. However, clocks and watches have not had electronic memory and can not remember random information or create unique recordings or alarm messages. Nor can they save video and do not have touch screens. However, with the low cost of touch screens and the low cost and small size of electronic memory, the present invention may include watches and/or clocks that have memory to enable a recordable and programmable message alarm clock with a touch screen for inputting information and playing back a recorded audio and/or video message that may be used as an alarm or a reminder for the user.
Many types of gloves have been known in the past. Some of them have been made to be used in cold weather and may be worn when skiing. Also, many people who ski have been known to wear funny hats and/or pants to distinguish themselves from other on the slopes. However, the present invention may include fun styled gloves to distinguish people, for example, when skiing. They may include, for example, designs and/or characters or caricatures such as a dog face, a cat face, a three headed dragon, etc.
There have been many types of radio and TV systems made in the past. Recently digital and satellite TV and Radio have come to replace old analog TV and radio. However, one problems with digital and satellite TV and there being skips and breaks in the signal or coverage. The present invention may include a system and method for making a clearer signal playback on digital or satellite radio or TV.
Traditional HVAC forced air systems have a single thermostat for temperature control and registers and/or vents to control the amount of heated or cooled air that is circulated through a particular room of a building. The registers and/or vents are manually set once in a while by a maintenance person (commercial building) or a home owner (residential property) so that generally the temperature in each room is somewhat regulated on a typical day. However, each room of a building typically does not reach a comfortable level regardless of where the registers or vents are set and so they need to be manually adjusted or the entire systems temperature setting must be adjusted at the single thermostat. Recently, some HVAC systems have been introduce with single room register or vent replacements that help to make adjustments to the air flow for each room (see, e.g., invent systems), but these systems have large, bulky, and relatively unusual register/vent adjustable outlets that look out of place in most room decors (look unusual relative to the typical vent or register grates or louvers) and there are separate thermostats and temperature sensors added in each room that communicate via radio control. The present invention may integrate the individual room system into a single per vent/register output system that cooperates with the main thermostat and the individual rooms HVAC systems to appear visually typical and provide temperature balance to each room in the HVAC system so that all the rooms in a building attached to the same system are closer to the desired temperature level of the user.